


Castle in the Forest

by TaymeeLove



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Anna Milton, Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Angel Samandriel, Angel Wings, Bird Kevin, Bottom Cas Big Bang, Bottom Castiel (Supernatural), Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, Chuck Shurley is God, Endverse, Endverse Fix it Fic, Ex-Crossroads Demon Crowley, Lucifer Possessing Sam Winchester, Lucifer Sam, M/M, Owl Kevin, Past Relations with Dean and other Female Hunters mentioned, Prophet Kevin Tran, References to Croatoan/Endverse (Supernatural), Top Dean Winchester, Vampire Benny Lafitte, Winged Castiel (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 15:46:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18626308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaymeeLove/pseuds/TaymeeLove
Summary: Dean is just going through the motions on everything. From breathing to being the leader of the camp, nothing has meaning for him anymore after Sam left. But, everything changes when he finds a picture of a castle in the forest that looks like it hasn't been touched by the croats or any fires from the area. Will he find a haven there or is it a trap set up by Lucifer?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

>   
> 
> 
> I'm back with a new story after way too long. I hope you guys enjoy it. Some notes are to thank my wonderful Beta [beezie687](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beezie687/pseuds/beezie687) and my wonderful artist [thali-lemmonpie](https://thali-lemmonpie.tumblr.com). Special thanks to Angel who always pushes me to finsish stories.... one of these days I'll finish all my stories. Lol.
> 
> In this story grace is used ... a lot ... as basically magic. Just everything appears that Castiel and the other angels want to appear. And just like my last endverse fic, if those aren't usually you're thing cause they're too dark... you're in luck cause mine are fix it fics where I give the endverse a happy ending :)

The world had given up hope, and so had Dean. His brother, the only person that ever mattered to him was being worn around by the devil himself. The world had burned many times over through his wrath and that of the infected Dean began to call Croatoan. No one saw any hope in this world, no one saw any future in which the world would recover. 

Dean worked his hardest to hold his crew together. Sending them on scavenger hunts, that for all intents and purposes had all been for not, but to keep them busy. His heart lost in the world somewhere and all that mattered was anyone who would spread their legs for him. Risa, Lisa, Anna, it didn’t matter anymore what the past with them was, what they once held as the future with him or anyone else in the camp. All that mattered was getting off and going out and shooting cans that sat on his old baby, he’d long let rot to pieces. 

Fifteen long years since that day Sam said yes. He’d done so in a fit of teenage rebellion against John, only to pay for it ever since. Lucifer took over his body, aging it slowly for the next five years until Sam looked twenty and took over a pharmaceutical company. They spread Croatoan in the flu shots, within another three years the world began to be in ruins and now the whole world burned, but those who were somehow immune to the virus or fortunate enough to not have any interaction with the Croats. 

Over the years there was always talk about secure places. Cities that hadn’t been hit with the virus at all and locked down to not be exposed to it. Forests that became encampments for the survivors and grew into new cities. Yet, every one he’d send his team to all came back as myths. That was until one that actually sounded true, and Dean was damn sure he was going to check out that one himself. 

“It could be another set up, Dean,” Chuck warned. 

“It could, but you said it yourself. This place hasn’t been touched, not even by the fire that swept through the land a few years back. It was untouched and our guys can’t even get close cause some sort of force field. I have to go see it myself.” 

“How do you suppose you’ll get through the invisible walls around this castle?” 

“I’ll figure it out when I get there.” Dean sighed. He wasn’t even sure how he would. Let alone if this was another myth, but this one did have proof that helped it wasn’t. The trees around the old 17th century castle in Nova Scotia had all been burned down the field around it bare with a perfect circle left of healthy green grass and bodies that lay dead around it. The dead of infected floated in the moat around the castle. 

Dean went back to his cabin, the bottle of Jack in his hand before he could even get his shoes off. 

“Why am I even believing this to be true?” Dean questioned out loud to himself as he took a swig of the whiskey. He bent down and untied his laces licking his lips to keep the taste there for just a hint longer before he could take another drink. 

“What if Chuck is right and this is a set up by Lucifer?” he moved to the table, the question leaving his lips as he put the bottle back up to them. 

“There isn’t even any proof this castle exists outside of a photo found in the newest raid.” Dean reasoned with himself. 

It was completely possible it wasn’t a real place, that the photo had been left there by the Croats to lead him into a trap. Or that Lucifer had somehow learned how to photo shop. No one could be sure what the answers were without seeing for themselves. 

“How are we even supposed to get there from Kansas?” Dean wished more than ever now that Sam was with him, he was always the one to pick the best routes when they went on hunts when they were younger. John, Dean remembered, hated that Sam was always right that cutting through a certain town would be faster than going on the highway. He laughed into his bottle as he took another drink at the memory of all the fights. 

“Well, it’s just me now.” He sighed aloud as he put the bottle down and began working on a route and team to take. 

“Nah, it ain’t, brother.” A southern dripped voice spoke from the dark corner of the cabin. 

“Benny, now isn’t a good time.” Dean said. “I’ve gotta figure this out.” 

“You know I can help.” It was unconventional at best to trust a vampire as much as he did. John sure wasn’t happy with it when he brought back the wounded creature during the first year of the virus. Benny had unknowingly drank from someone who’d got the flu shot, the virus mutated so to kill vampires and anyone else who fed on people. Dean saved him with his own blood and had been saving him ever since. Though, Benny did help Dean through a few rough patches too. 

“Fine. This castle,” Dean pointed at the picture they laying on the table by his bottle. “Was left on the desk of the last search for a safe haven. We think it’s our best hope, cause there seems to be some kind of ward on it that no one can get close to it.” 

“But, you being our fearless leader think that you can get through it?” Benny only half-mocked. 

“Basically,” Dean shrugged and took another drink. Benny took a seat across from them as they talked their way to a plan. 

Two days later they emerged from the cabin and called a meeting with the whole camp. 

“Uhm. Hi everyone.” Dean waved clumsily at the crowd. He was never one to be able to articulate words well, let alone in front of a group of people. 

He and Benny went back and forth about the plan picking up where the other left off. There was barely 15 people left in the camp and Dean was going to take six with him. Alfie would come, he was young and only came to the camp a few years, but had proven more than once he could handle a gun if needed. Dean liked to keep him close, Alfie reminded him of Sam more than he’d like to admit and he’d even mistakenly called the boy Sam more than once, every time he’d just smile like it was his real name and tell Dean not to worry of the mixup. Risa and Anna were coming too, as was Benny. Chuck was to go as well, though he was more going to keep them on track of the route Dean chose. John would stay behind and run the camp. With everyone knowing what they were doing they were given an hour to pack, and everyone was off right after breakfast. 

Dean took one last look at Baby as they passed it in the jeep, he still wasn’t sure why both he and his father had let it fall to ruin. Perhaps they saw it as a reminder that Sam wasn’t with them anymore and couldn’t drive around in a car that had his initials carved into it or rattled when the air was on too long from the legos they’d shoved in there as kids. He shook his head clear of those thoughts and looked back at the road, catching Chuck studying his face as he did. 

“Shut up.” Dean grunted under his breath and stepped on the gas. They had a 32 hour drive ahead of them. 

The backroads they drove, knowing the highways were covered in abandoned cars, were full of burnt out corn fields long forgotten and long since holding anything but shades of black and brown. When they did venture into the cities all they found were shells of buildings that once stood, their glass once gleaming in the sun, now covered in soot and dirt, broken and destroyed. It was the fallen cities that Dean hated going through most. The memories of driving the same, or similar, streets with his brother coming to the front of his mind and causing his eyes to water. Memories, that’s what Dean hated most of the cities. But, Chuck came up with a game shortly into the first run he’d ever taken with Dean, he saw that Dean needed something to distract him and came up with a game, one no one wanted to lose. The rules of the game were simple; find the best graffiti and that person would win an extra half a helping of their next meal. 

Somewhere along the way when Dean took a break from looking at the broken road in front of him and off to the trees that tried their hardest to live on, Dean noticed an owl that seemed to be following the car. He wasn’t sure if it was the same one every time, but he knew that just like everything else in this world, owls weren’t around often. 

They took a break about half way through the drive when they’d just passed through Cleveland. Dean knew waiting this long meant they were possibly in harm's way being closer to a bigger city, but he also couldn’t wait any longer to take longer than a ten-minute break to use the restroom. He needed to stretch his legs and go over the plan once they got there again. 

“You know, Dean, owls are supposed to belong to those who find wisdom in silence.” Chuck said quietly to him as the rest of the groups ran laps across the street to get out their pent-up energy. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dean claimed with a shrug as he watched out for his friends. He noticed Benny looked hungry sitting on the side of the road watching everyone run, Dean understood he’d have to feed soon and he hoped Risa could help out so that Dean could stay focused. Chuck, Anna, and Alfie, all claimed to have some kind of blood disease which made it so they couldn’t feed Benny leaving just Dean and Risa to do so. A few sips from Dean now and a few more from Risa later meant that all of them would be in top shape by the time they got to the castle the next day. He’d have to talk to Benny about it when they switched drivers. 

“I know you saw that owl following us. I saw you watching it a few times.” 

Dean blinked getting back to the thoughts of the conversation at hand. “So?” He questioned, it was the best answer he could give as his brain started to focus now on the papers in front of him. 

“They also can be invoked when you need to see the truth.” Chuck said before looking at the papers as well. Effectively finishing the conversation with a bomb that Dean didn’t know how to answer anyways. 

As the rest of the crew tired Dean called them back to the car and went over everything again to make sure that no one forgot. He gave the keys over to Chuck to drive and cocked his head to the side for Benny to drink. 

“Not too much, Risa can give you more later, but we all need to be at full strength for this.” Dean said before Benny walked to him. 

Alfie and Anna returned to the group with food, everyone even Risa, questioning where they found it. 

“I was with you the whole time, I don’t remember seeing any food running from place to place.” She spoke to them staring at the box of food laid before her. 

“We found it in a backroom of the last place you hadn’t gone with us too.” Alfie shrugged. Everyone, but Anna, looking at him with a questioning face, but decided to shrug it off as luck and not looking a gift horse in the mouth too hard. 

Chuck drove for the next ten hours, before switching out with Risa who drove them the rest of the way. They set up camp near the castle using binoculars to get a closer look. 

The bridge leading to the castle lay down waiting for someone who was worthy to pass over it. Dean didn’t know what lay inside, but he was hoping it was some kind of cure or at least some kind of safe haven he could move his team to. The deer around the camp were getting harder and harder to come by and it’d been years since they’d caught got any fish. He hoped beyond hope that this place would be everyone's safety and they could finally live a somewhat usual life. 

He watched as the rest of the group got a good look too, before they all headed back to the tent they’d set up. 

“What do you guys think?” Dean asked. “It doesn’t look like anyone is even there.” 

“I can see what the picture didn’t show was that the field around the house does look to be more real than photoshop. It looks promising.” Alfie answered. 

“How we gonna get past the wards?” Benny mentioned again. 

“Not sure,” Dean said, “I’m hoping to figure that out tomorrow during the day when we can get a better look.” 

They talked a bit longer before calling it a night. They’d figured out a plan that they would all go up to the bridge and see if they could see any warding sigils hidden in the wood or anything else that would explain the literal bubble of purity around the castle. 

Benny would stay up and keep watch, since he didn’t need much sleep, when everyone woke the next day, Risa feed Benny just enough to strong, and the rest ate different berries they found in the forests. It wasn’t a hero's breakfast for any of them, but they all held hopes that inside the castle they’d find one. 

The clouds above brewed into a storm that centered around the bricks. They could see lighting strike the water as they got closer. The thunder shook the ground they walked on. An ominous, forbidding feeling sunk deep into each of their stomachs. 

-x- 

Castiel’s childhood had been normal as far as he was concerned everyone else lived in a tower locked away from the world with a talking pet owl. His brothers, Balthazar and Gabriel, would often visit him at Uncle Crowley's villa where he lived. Each time his brothers left him they always had a sad look in their eyes towards him and a discourteous look when they walked passed Uncle Crowley. 

He often asked his Uncle why his brothers were so insolent towards him, the questions, no matter how Castiel phrased them, were always answered with “Its adult business, you don’t need to bother yourself with it.” Castiel often imagined his Uncle practiced those words in the mirror to say to him. 

One day in his late teens while staring out at the forest Castiel felt a change in the air. The static in the air was electrified, the smell of life changed to the scent of decaying flesh. Castiel looked over at his owl alarmed, and they both went to find Uncle Crowley to see what was going on. 

“You said you’d wait another few years.” Crowley yelled at someone, Castiel hid himself and his friend to spy on the conversation. The person didn’t look like either of his brothers and no one else had ever been to visit him in the past. 

“That was over fifty years ago Crowley. It’s time now.” The strange man spit out. He was tall and had long brown hair. Castiel noticed the aura about him had a dark flare look to it, he looked questionably at his pet to see if he’d heard the words correctly. 

“He - I’m - We’re -” Crowley started. He’d never been one to be at a loss for words and this made Castiel question things even more. 

“The time has come. No matter if you are ready to let him go, which you should be, or if he is ready. The ceremony is tonight.” 

Castiel watches for just a bit longer to see the man turn to start walking towards where he hid, the man’s eyes were glowing a blue that Castiel had only seen in his own eyes when he’d been sleepy and Crowley hadn’t fixed him his morning coffee yet. He quietly and quickly ran back off to his room, his mind a thunderstorm of inquiring that rivaled the one building quickly outside. 

In his room Castiel looked over to Kevin to see if his bird had any ideas on what the ceremony would be, his bird companion looked solemn. He wondered around his room for a bit after attempting to read and quill his thoughts, it was all for naught as the night quickly came and Crowley came to collect him. 

“What is this about,” Castiel asked while they were walking down the steps to the dining hall. 

“I cannot say, but I can tell you I’m sorry.” Crowley finally answered as they walked into the room. The same scary man from before was at the head of the table. A gaunt man with yellow eyes sat to his right and a little girl with blonde hair and a blood-soaked white dress to the left. Castiel chose to sit next to the girl, as he hoped she was less likely to eat him alive, and Crowley sat next to the other man. 

“I am Lucifer,” The scary man from before introduced himself before gesturing to his right and left, “This is Azazael and Lilith.” Lucifer took a bite of the rare steak in front of him, blood oozing out of the barely cooked meat and staining the man's teeth red. “You needn’t ask any questions as to why we are here tonight, for I won’t answer them but in due time. Just enjoy your meal.” 

Castiel could tell he meant for the last sentence to sound polite, but it came out more demanding. He tried to enjoy his own steak, more cooked than the rest of the tables, but each bite he took he felt he was closer to something he didn’t want to know. Dinner tonight didn’t have the same conversations dinner with Crowley normally had, and Crowley had put Kevin in his cage beforehand so he couldn’t fill up dinner with looks shared between the only thing close to a friend he had. 

“It is time.” Lucifer spoke as soon as the last piece of food left the table. Before Castiel could understand what was happening, Lucifer snapped his fingers and he found himself chained to the ceiling in the basement. 

Looking around Castiel realized why Crowley never let him come down to this place, it was dark and smelled of a sewer. The light that was in the room came from different candles lain around him in the shape of a star, the chains around his wrist pulled him up just enough that his toes could barely reach the floor and had glowing letters on them. Castiel looked around frightened at the companions in the room with him, searching their faces for any answers as to what was happening. 

Curiosity piqued a new high in Castiel as everyone in the room started to chant in a language he couldn’t understand. Though, from what Castiel could tell, they weren’t all saying the same thing. Lucifer spoke the loudest, but as Castiel looked at the faces around him some more, Crowley’s face was more concerned and his voice was the quietest. 

Not before long Castiel could feel an energy around him explode as he screamed like something was being ripped from him. Wings produced from his back he’d never seen before and he could see in the reflection of the stale water on the floor his eyes glowed blue. 

Lucifer produced a blade and stepped inside the flames to cut open the front of the shirt he wore before carving some kind of symbol into his chest. As he moved out of the flames they grew higher with the sound of his voice became louder. The words he spoke seemed to echo around the space they were in. 

The last thing Castiel remembered hearing was Lilith's laugh before the world went black and he woke back up in his room. Kevin was lightly pecking at his forehead and standing on his check. Before opening his eyes he took stock of what his surroundings were. The sun on his skin meant he’d slept for at least the night, the bed was still as warm as it’d had always been and just as comfy, and the blanket over him seemed worn in a way they hadn’t felt before. Feeling around for the pressure of clothes on his skin made him want to jump and scream, he couldn’t feel a shirt on his torso, but he could feel loose and worn pants around his waist. He opened his eyes to see Crowley in the corner reading a book silently aloud. 

“How-” Castiel started to speak before having to stop to clear his throat. “How long have is slept?” It seemed like the first proper question to ask before getting to the point of, what the hell happened. 

Crowley gave him a solemn look as Kevin flew from his cheek to sit next to his hip when he sat up. “Three years.” 

Castiel jumped from the bed and screamed as much as his voice would allow. “What do you mean three years?!” 

“The short of it is, the spell Lucifer used you for released a virus into the world. The spell I quietly said would keep you alive. You are the last angel on earth, Castiel, and the only hope for this virus to end.” 

Castiel’s head spun. He never had a clue until the wings came from his back, wings his brain just now supplied were still there. Reaching behind him, he felt the tips of them. They were black as night and softer than the softest wool Castiel had ever felt. Looking back to Crowley he waited for more answers. 

“I don’t know much else. After the spell you were supposed to die, but because of mine you lived. When your body fell lifeless from the chains Lucifer and the rest left, afterwards I said another spell to cloak and protect this space from anyone who didn’t have only human blood in them and moved you back to your room. I haven’t been able to leave this place either, cause I’d risk not getting back in. I’m sorry I never told you, Castiel, I’m a crossroads Demon, I was only supposed to watch you as Lucifer was ready to make sure you didn’t remember being an angel, but as you thought you were growing up, I started to actually like you cause I saw the wonderment in your eyes as you learned everything for what you thought was the first time.” 

“So all my memories of childhood are false? My uncles aren’t real either?” 

“No, they are. But, they’d risk being filled if they tried to tell you anything other than the false memories you were given.” 

Castiel sat back down on his bed, awareness from growing up an angel flowed through his mind clouding the false ones until they evaporated from memory only to be locked in the back of his brain to never be thought of again. Memories of Gabriel telling him about how a fish was important because it had big plans for the future. Recollections of Balthazar teasing him for being the youngest and smallest angel. Cognizance of a far-off conversations between Lucifer and his uncles about his plans for young Castiel, before finally the memories he’d locked away started. 

The next few years Castiel read the books that were forbidden for him to read before and learned to how to use his angel powers. 

“You’re weaker than you once were, but you’re still very strong. Don’t give up.” Crowley would tell him every night before they went back to their respective rooms for alone time. Neither of them spoke of how they didn’t need to sleep, relishing in the few hours of time by themselves they could get each night. Castiel spent most of them staring out at the world from his window, Kevin perched on his shoulder, he could see the smoke from far away fires and smell a faint scent of decay that was too strong for the wards to protect them from. 

Today the storm clouds Castiel watched were more fierce than ever. The lightning strikes were closer, Castiel noted as he counted the seconds between them and the thunder. He could make out the faint outline of people in the woods, from the smell around him, Castiel assumed that the world was all dead. He’d hadn’t been outside the castle in longer than his memory lasted, so by the scent around him and the dead bodies at the end of the circle of wards around him, he had just thought that only him and Crowley were left on the earth. Crowley had yet to tell him exactly what was going on outside the fortress they’d lived in, and Castiel wasn’t sure if he should inform the demon of the outlines. As he watched he could make out a group of about five people that slowly approached the front entrance. The doors that lead outside were kept open, not used for much more than air circulation anymore, he’d always wondered if they should just close them. He looked up to the sky once more and was hit by surprise of a bolt of lightning. Screaming, he fell back and the world went dark.

  


-x-

The clouds above brewed into a storm that centered around the bricks. They could see lightning strike the water as they got closer. The thunder shook the ground they walked on. An ominous, forbidding feeling sunk deep into each of their stomachs. 

Dean looked up as they reached the moat entrance checking for any living thing that might be stuck, like some Rapunzel wanna-be to weather out the apocalypse alone. He was caught by surprise when he saw a flash of lightning and heard a yell like someone had been hit when the light entered a room at the top of one of the towers. Breaking out into a run, his plan was completely forgotten, all thoughts that whoever lived there might be a trap set up for him by the devil obliterated from his mind, his team left behind as the only thing that mattered now is to make sure that whoever was just hit with the bolt of light was safe. 

He ran up the moat into the front entrance of the castle, a dark figure running in the same direction he’d assumed the other person was in too. Pausing for only a moment to make sure he was armed Dean ran the same way. 

“Castiel!” He heard the figure yell. “Castiel are you alright?” Slowly and quietly Dean followed. “Kevin what happened?” The voice asked when he got to the room. Dean heard what sounded like wings fluttering and a soft “lightning” was squeaked out. 

“Dean.” Risa whispered behind him when he almost reached the door. “No one else can get in!” She sounded scared. He looked back at her puzzled before looking back to where the entrance to the moat lay as everyone else sat staring at something Dean couldn’t see. Torn Dean wasn’t sure if he should head back to find out what was wrong with his friends, or head forward to the voices. The voices and curiosity won out in the end as Dean walked into the room, Risa close behind. 

First thing Dean noticed about the room was how the bed didn’t look like it had been touched in years. Second and third were the wings he found, one belonging to an owl that looked like the one that had been following them, the other belonged to who Dean felt was the person that screamed. The last, and what should have been the first thing he noted was the smell of sulfur in the air that now that he thought about it, the smell had been everywhere since he walked into the castle. 

“This was a setup.” Dean thought he thought in his head, but from the man kneeling next to the winged person on the floor looking back at him he realized he said out loud. 

“Who are you?” The man spoke, his eyes flashing red, “What are you doing here? I won’t allow you to take him!” 

“Woah. Woah.” Dean said, oddly calm in the face of a demon with eyes he’d never seen, but curiosity won again. "I’m not here to take anyone.” 

“Why are you here then?” The man spoke standing up and walking towards him. 

“We heard about this place being safe and we wanted to check it out.” Risa spoke, Dean wanted nothing more than to cover her mouth with his hand to shut her up, but he was stuck in place. “We heard a scream and ran up here to make sure everyone was okay.” 

The man sighed and Dean felt the pressure keeping him rooted was gone. “I’m Crowley, ex-crossroads demon. This is Castiel, ex-angel. The owl is Kevin ex-prophet. Welcome to misfit island.” 

“He doesn’t look like an ex-angel.” Dean spoke walking towards the man with the wings on the floor, “Castiel? Right? He has wings, what is he if he isn’t an angel anymore?” 

“That’s a little hard to -” Crowley started to speak before being cut off.

  


Dean reached his hand out to touch Castiel’s shoulder as another lightning bolt struck and hit him, the smell of burnt flesh seeping into his nose as he bit his tongue not to scream, eyes rolling to the back of his head, he fell backwards.

“Dean!” He heard Risa yell to him and Crowley yelled “No” at him before his world went black. 

Waking up later, Dean was in the same room. Only now, the rest of his crew was there with him. He looked around the room to get his bearings. Castiel was awake sitting next to him, studying the room. Crowley sat on the other side of the room, his eyes red as they boar death rays into his soul. Chuck and Benny both had a hand on his shoulders and stared death rays back at Crowley, their eyes both glowing blue. Anna and Risa sat hugging each other on the floor a few feet from him and Castiel. Alfie was in the corner chattering away with the owl. He was about to speak to asked what happened before he did a double take. 

“First,” he coughed and sat up, “Why are your eyes blue, Chuck? Second, why do Anna and Alfie have wings now? Third, why couldn’t you get into the castle and what changed to make it so you could? And lastly, probably most important,” he stood up and backed up to the window to watch everyone from a better position. “What the fuck happened?” 

“The curse will be broken when an angel falls in love with Michael’s sword.” Chuck and Crowley spoke at the same time. 

Dean and Castiel glanced at each other before moving their eyes to the burned print of Dean’s hand on Castiel’s shoulder. Castiel cocked his head to stare confused at the mark. Dean had a distinct view of him for a second that he was like a bird, the wings protruding from his back only adding to the image. They both opened their mouths, words swirling in their brains that they wouldn’t dare speak out loud because they couldn’t stop them in their tracks fast enough to produce a valid sentence. Instead, Alfie was the one to speak. 

“Kevin, he wants to know how this happened when they didn’t even speak,” he said, still looking at the bird perched on his hand. “He also says, that according to the prophecy, they don’t fall in love until the world is put back.” 

“There are a lot of prophecy around Michael sword and Castiel. We don’t know for sure which is true. Only that the main focus of each one is that they fall in love and they save us. That’s why Lucifer wanted to kill him so badly years ago when Castiel was used to start the virus, he’s the only one that can stop it.” Crowley said, trying to be calm, his voice gave him away that he was scared the new people in the room wouldn’t take kindly to finding out the whole reason the world went to shit was the poor child sitting on the floor with broken and damaged wings. 

“Castiel, he’s the reason for the Croats?!” Risa yelled, standing up from her comfortable position on the floor with Anna. “He’s why I lost my whole family?! He’s why-“ 

“Guess you didn’t know the devil is also Dean’s brother?” Crowley growled. Dean saw he’d been taking care of Castiel and the look in his eyes meant he was not going to sit back and listen to someone being rude to him. Crowley stood and slowly walked towards Risa. “You best watch your mouth. Even though neither me nor Castiel are very strong anymore, we can still snap our fingers and you disappear from existence.” 

“Enough!” Dean yelled at the little man in his friends face. “I- We’re taking another room. We need to talk.” 

They all started to walk out of the room and without even looking back Dean supplied, “Alfie, leave the bird.” 

Dean and his friends tried their best to not argue, but having that many personalities in the room with so many bombs dropped at once, it was something that only yelling could solve. Risa yelled at Dean to wrap her mind around him being the devil’s brother. Dean sat quietly trying to wrap his mind around everything. The rest sat watching Dean and Risa to make sure nothing happened when finally, Dean stood up from where he’d crouched to focus on thinking. 

“Risa, shut the hell up,” he started. “It isn’t my fault that Sam said yes. You would have done the same had you been in an argument with your parents like he was. He was 15 when he said yes! 15!” 

Though she still wanted to argue, that point did effectively shut her up. She’d been around Dean long enough to know that when he finally raised his voice at you, that was when you’d reached the limit of his patience. 

“Next,” he stated turning around to face Chuck. “Why are your eyes blue like theirs but you have no wings?” 

“I’ve always had blue eyes,” Chuck stated needlessly. He knew what Dean meant. He also knew now wasn’t the time to joke, but that it was important to make Dean take a step back. “If you’re asking why my eyes are now glowing blue its cause -” 

“He’s not an angel, Dean,” Anna jumped in. 

“He’s more,” Benny stated, sniffing the air around Chuck. “I can’t tell what though.” 

“I think it’s best we leave that to be known later, Dean. You’ve had enough information given to you tonight,” Chuck placated with his hands up in surrender. He wasn’t sure if Dean would listen to him, but he was more sure that Dean finding out the truth now wouldn’t do anyone any good. 

“Fine.” Dean sighed, he didn’t want to let it go, but that was true. Information was being thrown at him at a rate he hadn’t ever experienced. “Moving on then. Anna, Alfie, one of you want to explain?” 

“Samandriel.” Alfie said. “That’s my name, that’s why I answered to Sam.” 

“We’re angels, Dean. Just like Castiel is. There’s not much grace left in him now,” Anna said, pausing to looking at Chuck, “but I think that can be fixed.” She stopped looking away from everyone to stare out the window now from where it sat across from her, to collect her thoughts before finishing what she was saying before. “I always thought the Croats smelled different. Like there was something both demonic and angelic about them. Now I understand why.” 

“I wondered the same thing when I drank from someone who’d got the flu shot before turning. It’s the same reaction I get from someone possessed,” Benny said before his face changed like something occurred to him that he hadn't thought yet. “That’s what your ‘blood disease’ is?” Instead of answering, the three who were asked the question just nodded their heads yes. 

“Okay, next item on the list. Do I have to say yes to Michael for this all to be fixed?” Dean asked, as he watched the faces of everyone in the room closely for any clues that might lead to an answer that wasn’t stated. 

Anna and Alfie opened their mouths to answer, but Chuck was the first one to speak aloud. “No,” was all he said, he didn’t make any moves to elaborate. His face said the answer he gave was final. 

“Good. ‘Cause I’m not being anyone’s meatsuit. If I fall in love with that angel, if, does that mean I get Sam back?” asked Dean.

“Yes.” Chuck again was the first to speak, his voice leaving no room for any other answer. 

“Why me? Why him? What was God’s plan for all of this?” Dean asked to no one in particular turning his back from everyone in the room to look out the window. The storm that was so violent earlier was gone now, no traces of it left behind. The ground was dry and even though it had to be at least nine at night now, the sun still was as bright as ever. There with no signs of lowering like it would for the rest of the world. It was like within the walls of the castle time had no meaning, life outside of the perfect circle didn’t exist in here. 

-x- 

As Dean and his crew went to look for a room to talk in, Castiel and Crowley stayed behind in Castiel’s room with Kevin. Each group walked through everything they’d just learned. Castiel could hear, even from the other side of the castle, that Dean and his friends like to yell. It was different from how he’d ever spoken to Crowley. He’d never raised his voice at the demon. Even knowing everything, they always calmly talked it out, like they were discussing a recipe. They would take everything separately and break it apart until they got to the final part, putting everything together, breaking from being around each other to let everything cook before coming back and speaking about it again. Castiel wondered if he should maybe share this with his new friends. 

“You shouldn’t mind them Castiel, humans aren’t used to the truth,” Crowley spoke, watching Castiel who stared out the door listening to the group that’d just left the room. 

“Why? Isn’t the truth important?” He cocked his head to the side looking every bit like a mix between the bird he hung out with too much and the child he’d raised to know nothing but what was within these castle walls. 

“I’m sorry,” Crowley sighed, and he truly was. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would be happening. He wished he could go back in time and change it, somehow. “Humans - they - they just – they like the truth and they think it’s important too, but they think it’s more important to lie to protect the people they care about.” 

Castiel hummed in thought, moving his eyes from the door to Kevin. “Will he go back to human after this?” 

“It depends. His spell is different from the one that made you and Dean fall into this prophecy. He himself is the prophet, he might be able to change back when it’s fulfilled, but he might change back before, or he may never. I don’t know. I don’t have the answer for that.” 

The air was filled with three sighs from everyone in the room. Before they could work out any more, the others came back to the room.

-x-

Chuck entered first, he walked straight over to Kevin and held him. The blue-eyed man whispered something into the owls ear and before anyone could blink again, Kevin was in front of them, in human form. 

“Don’t ask Dean, I told you, not now,” he said when he looked over at the hunter, who had his mouth open to speak. Chuck then walked over and grabbed clothes from Castiel’s dresser to throw at the very naked young man in the room. 

“Holy shit!” Kevin said. He cracked his neck and stretched his arms high, not caring he was naked in front of a room of mostly made up of strangers. The first step he took was full of joy and pain. “Where’s my mother?” 

“I’m sorry Kevin. You’ve been here for far longer than the rest of them, she’s been gone for years now.” Chuck spoke with a caring hand on his shoulder. 

“What do you mean for longer?” Kevin asked, his head cocked to the side, a reminder that just a few seconds ago he was a bird. 

“Where they’ve been here for a little over 50 years, Kevin, you were changed into a bird at the beginning of the 20th century, it’s now 2014,” said Chuck. Kevin fell to the floor tears streaming from his eyes. “Let’s give him time, is there a kitchen?” Chuck asked, “I think Risa and Dean are probably getting hungry.” He turned to Kevin again squatting in front of him. “Take all the time you need, we’ll make you some food too. It’ll be waiting for you at the table.” 

Samandriel stayed behind, a quiet shoulder if Kevin needed one, as he sat in the corner of the bed staring out the window. 

“Now what happens?” Dean asked as they sat down at the too-long dining room table to eat sandwiches he now knew to not ask where they came from, figuring that it was from whatever place they‘d gotten the food last time. 

“How are you not freaking out about falling in love with an angel?” Risa asked around her bite of food. “I mean, you’re all macho man’s man, right?” 

“Well …. “ Dean glanced at Benny. It wasn’t as if they’d ever done anything, but he did have feelings for the vampire he hid from himself and kept locked away, to never see the light of day. “I mean, angels don’t have genders, right?” 

“No, not really. Their vessels do, but I’ve known angels to be in men’s bodies when they have female names. We don’t see gender the same way humans do.” Anna answered. 

Dean didn’t think he needed to speak anymore for the time being, choosing instead to quietly chew his food and watch the people around him in a new light. He watched as Anna spoke quietly to Castiel; their wings moving like cats' ears to their emotion and conversations. Their colors were different, he noticed quite late into this whole ordeal. Anna’s wings were more of a grey-white where Castiel’s wings had more black in them than any other colors, Alfie came down while he was watching them and saw his wings were a sandy color like his hair. He observed as they all spoke that if something scared them – like Castiel having to fall in love – that his wings would curl at the top and cover the tops of his shoulders protecting himself from the scary words. The more Dean watched the three, the more he realized that his eyes kept going back to Castiel. 

At some point in his unconscious suspension, Kevin sat down next to him. When Dean came to with a shake of his head, and having to physically wipe his eyes to not be mystified by Castiel for just a moment’s time, he noticed Kevin was talking to him. 

“Dean?” he asked again, waiting for eyes to meet his. “Thank you.” He whispered it so quietly to the bread near his mouth that Dean almost missed it. 

His eyes shot open in response, “Huh?” 

“Thank you for coming. I didn’t know it had been so long. I’ve been looking for you for almost 100 years.” His eyes were sad during the last sentence like it almost fully kicked in that he’d been an owl for so long, that everyone he ever cared for was long since gone. Dean could almost see a hint of relief in Kevin's golden eyes. Relief that his family hadn’t had to live through this hell of an apocalypse. “Though, I still can’t believe it’s been that long. I watched the world change around me with the single driven mind set of finding you to bring you to Castiel. I never even thought of looking for my family, or thought that they’d be gone.” 

Dean didn’t know what to say, or how to react, he just let a simple pat on the shoulder speak his words for him. He knew that the gesture spoke more and better than he ever could. 

“So, now what?” Anna questioned, coming back to the table with the other two angels to sit and speak of a game plan. 

“I think, best thing to do is have Crowley do some kinda spell thing like he did before, so that Castiel and I can stay here and get to know each other. And – uhm – also, that Crowley can go back to camp with you guys. You can come up with some lie about wanting to see if the castle is actually livable or whatever,” Dean said, hoping his words made enough sense to everyone. 

“How long do you plan on staying here?” Benny asked, “you know your father will not be happy if you’re gone for longer than a month, but it takes longer than that to fall in love.” 

“If that’s the case I can put the same spell on the house I did before,” Crowley said as he stood up and started to gather ingredients from around the kitchen table. Surprisingly, a lot of the objects they needed were used during dinner, or found on people at the table. “Time will move differently here that way. We’ll come back to fetch you guys in a month to bring you back to the camp, but here it will be almost a year.” 

With everything planned out, Kevin and Crowley packed up some of their belongings and headed out with the camp group. Dean watched as Crowley and Chuck cast the spell, and how Anna and Alfie’s wings disappeared – however, Chuck’s eyes didn’t move back to their normally paler blue. They were still as bright and glowing as they were when he was in the castle. 

-xx- 

 

Being alone in the castle with Castiel was weird for Dean, for the first few nights. He wandered around the property, used to having to keep watch, so he was getting only a few hours of sleep a night, if any. Time being different there felt weird too, the sun was always shining, there were never any clouds, and as far as Dean could remember the only time it rained here was during their first day. 

“Doesn’t it rain here?” Dean asked after he’d been there for about a week. 

“No,” Castiel said, he sat on the couch in the front room. 

The new spell cast gave the house new furniture that Dean ‘needed’ to survive, as well as an endless supply of whatever food Dean wanted. If the hunter had known about this before the group left, he would have told them to do the same thing when they got back to camp, but he hoped it would occur to them to at least do something about the food situation there. 

“There is rarely any rain here. That’s what made the storm when you first came here so weird,” Castiel continued. He flipped the page in the book he was reading, taking his time with it like Dean wasn’t even there. 

It wasn’t like they weren’t getting to know each other; it was more they didn’t know where to start the conversation. Castiel was open about everything, and he had to pull himself more than once to remember that Dean wasn’t like that. Dean needed time to open up, he needed time to express himself, his sentences often stopped in the middle so he could figure out what to say next and calculate things to start the conversation again and have it last longer than a few words. 

In about a months' time in the castle, Dean was opening up a little more. Their sentences went from a few syllables to almost full conversations. There was still a lot of room to grow, but Castiel had an idea. In the book he’d been reading, the two main characters got closer to falling in love when they got drunk together, Castiel didn’t know if he could get drunk, but he understood Dean could and that’s what mattered more. He felt Dean needed that extra push that alcohol gave to humans, to get him to open up. 

“Dinner’s ready,” Castiel called out to Dean later that day. His plan was coming into effect tonight, and he was nervous, but mostly excited about how tonight might turn out. 

Dinner was quiet, for the most part. Dean didn’t have much to talk about, and neither did Cas. They lived under the same roof, never leaving, so it wasn’t like they could talk about work or even small talk over the weather since it didn’t change. But Castiel still hoped that after Dean finished his second beer, it may be enough for him to open up. 

They ate steaks tonight, Castiel’s grace was powerful enough now that knowing about foods other than sandwiches meant he could conjure them up with his mind. 

“Steaks are a good change,” Dean noted half way through his second beer. Castiel jumped on the chance to get him to keep talking. 

“Did you eat steak a lot growing up?” 

“My mom died when we were pretty young, so we’ve been hunting since pretty much as far back as I can remember. But, we could get enough money together sometimes that Sam and I would go out and share a steak at a diner.” 

“Sam?” Castiel thought, “I know that name, why do I know that name?” He cocked his head to the side making Dean giggle. He still had his wings out, not knowing how to put them away, that sometimes Dean would laugh at him when he tilted his head the way he was now and say he looked like a bird. The angel stared at the hunter like that for a few more beats until he remembered why the name Sam sounded familiar. 

“You don’t have to talk about him if it’s too difficult,” he stated in a tone that left no doubt that he meant what he said, placing his arms in front of him palms out and facing Dean. 

“Nah, it’s okay,” Dean said, finishing the last of his beer in one big gulp. Castiel set another before him in its place. “I suppose it’s something we should talk about, what do you want to know?” he continued. 

Castiel answered that he’d be glad to hear anything Dean wanted to say about his brother, but it didn’t take long for Dean to launch into different stories. One tangent leading into another, none ending before the next started, weaving in between each story like an intricate web that only Dean could follow. 

He recalled stories of when Sam and he were still young, hunting with their father. He recounted tales of when they slept in the back seat cuddled under one blanket to keep warm ,while their father was out hunting whatever monster they’d found that week. Chronicles of a child who had to grow up too fast, of a little boy who had to be both mother and father to his younger brother. Little narrations of initials carved into a car lovingly named Baby, and Legos stuck into the air vents. By the end of it all, Castiel could feel emotions stuck in his and Dean’s throat that neither knew the name for, which neither wanted to call out into the open just yet. 

Castiel got his own beer after Dean asked about his childhood. It was the first time that Dean had pushed the conversation further since he’d moved there. They changed venues from the kitchen table to the makeshift living room in the foyer of the castle, and Castiel began to talk about his own childhood. 

“I guess I have two,” he started, explaining how now that his grace was back swimming around inside of him, he’d remembered his time as a fledgling angel. He told Dean stories about being told not to step on a fish crawling out of the water onto land, because there was big plans for it. He recalled growing up watching the world around him become what it was today, from that tiny humanoid amphibian, to the Croats that plagued the world now. The angel glossed over the boring parts of war, so he wouldn’t talk Dean’s ear off for eternity. The alcohol was for Dean to open up, and sure, part of that was him asking Castiel to be part of the conversation too, but now wasn’t the time for how the legends of yesteryear were all true. 

Castiel recapped the years he was under Crowley’s supervision and how he’d never questioned not being able to go home with his uncles, even though every part of his body screamed out to leave with them. He remembered that his body should look older than it was, being around for millennia, but he told Dean how he liked that they looked the same age. 

“The chronicles of my life are far more boring than yours. These walls here, that’s all I’ve known for fifty years.” Castiel said extending his arms out to show he meant the castle. 

“When you talk,” Dean said slowly moving his hands towards Castiel’s wings, “your wings show your emotions more than your face does.” He moved closer to Castiel and for the first time since they’d met, he touched Castiel again. 

There wasn’t thunder or lightning outside, but Castiel felt like there was an electric charge racing through him as Dean’s hand landed on his wing to pet it. Their faces were mere centimeters away from each other, and the angel stared into the face of the man he was destined to love. 

“It feels like there’s a magnetic charge on my fingers,” Dean’s voice was no more than a whispered thought aloud, his fingers tangling in the down feathers of his counterpart’s wings. “It’s like my hands are in a cloud that’s about to explode with lightning.” 

“I feel the same,” Castiel spoke just as quietly, afraid to ruin the mood that was being set now by speaking too much. 

Dean’s face turned to look him in the eye as their noses touched. They stared down the other, looking between their eyes and their lips. Neither knew who moved forward first to kiss the other, but the next thing both of them knew, Castiel’s hands were in Dean’s hair and both of Dean’s hands were in Castiel’s wings, their lips moving against the others in a rhythmic dance to the pounding sounds of Dean’s heart.

  


\--

Over the next few months their lives became like any married couple. They never spoke of getting together, they never clarified that they were, just happily co-existing in the same place while approaching the same endgame of being in an actual relationship. 

Every day, Castiel felt stronger. Every night, the sky became clearer. The stars in the heavens shone on them night and day in the same sky that watched as their love grew, it shone like a mirror in the outside world. The woods around them became more alive each time they held hands. Smells of decay were noticed less and less every time their lips met. The whole of the universe could feel a shift every time Dean called Castiel ‘Cas’ or ‘Bird’ - it was a nickname he’d started calling him after he first got there, Castiel tried to correct him, but gave up after a while when he started to like the little ‘pet name’ as Dean called it. 

Respectively the galaxies became brighter in the section of the sky above the castle that became night every time Castiel tried out a new nickname for Dean until one finally stuck – Huggy Bear – it made Dean almost cry the first time he heard it, remembering the shirt that said ‘I wuv hugs’ that he wore as a child with the teddy bear on it. It was the first happy memory from his childhood he could remember after so long. They weren’t sure if it was their doing, but a voice in the back of Castiel’s mind always told him that it was. 

Before long, they only had a week left until Chuck, Crowley, and whoever they’d bring would come back to look for them. They weren’t ready to give up their time alone, having already felt like they’d lived a lifetime together in just the short amount of time they’d been gone. Dean missed his group, but he knew he wouldn’t have much time alone with Castiel once they got back to the camp, not with John around. 

“What’s bothering you today?” Castiel questioned when Dean seemed jumpy every time they graced each other’s arms in passing. 

“John,” Dean answered. He’d gotten a million times better at actually expressing his feelings, but he also knew that just saying the name was more than enough to explain every emotion. 

“Ah,” Castiel said nodding. “I understand. He will not be accepting of you in a relationship with someone in a male body.” 

“No, it’s not that. Well, maybe that, I’m not sure. It’s - it’s that -” Dean sighed in frustration running hard fingers through his hair and turning his back to Cas. “Michael and Lucifer.” 

“Ah,” Castiel said, nodding again. Dean couldn’t see his face right now, but he was sure that the look on Cas’ face was currently overtaken by wheels turning. 

“Chuck already said though, that you don’t have to say yes to Michael.” Castiel had begun to think that the more time they spent together and the more they began to love each other, that Dean was becoming more of an angel himself. Someone who may be as strong as Michael someday, or maybe even stronger. He didn’t dare say that the more they kissed, the more electric tinge of grace came off of Dean’s lips. That the more they held hands and cuddled, the deeper scent of Dean changed from human to angelic being. Though, he wasn’t sure where Chuck fit into the equation of Angel or Monster, and he wasn’t sure if this is what Chuck meant, he thought more and more every day that this was Chuck’s plan all along, and that the blue-eyed man might be even more than what he looked like. 

“That’s not the way my dad will see it though,” Dean sighed. “And who knows if that’s the way Lucifer will see it.” 

—-

The day finally came when they’d have to go home. They packed up their belongings and waited for the group to approach. They heard chanting out the front gate, and went to investigate the noise with their bags in their hands. 

However, it wasn’t Chuck and Crowley that waited for them-- it was Lucifer. He had Lillith and Azazel with him again, each wearing a look on their face that could kill, if they had that kind of power. 

“Don’t worry,” Dean whispered as he reached behind him and grasped at the Colt he’d always kept hidden away. He wasn’t sure if it’d work on Lucifer, but he assumed if he used it on the other two the devil would be slightly weakened. 

“I will fight with you Dean,” the angel spoke, as the spell on the castle was broken. 

Dean didn’t even wait for the others to get closer as he quickly shot off two bullets into the sidekicks’ brains. They fell before Lucifer could even react. 

“Long time, no see,” the angel and the hunter said at the same time to Lucifer. 

“Not long enough,” Lucifer answered to Dean, then he turned to Cas. “You’re supposed to be dead, Castiel.” 

“Sorry to disappoint you.” Cas spoke with all the sarcasm he’d learned from Dean over these few months. A small pinch hit Dean’s heart, as he thought of the angel learning things from him, and a smile grew on his face. 

“You’re different,” Lucifer spit out. 

The small talk didn’t last much longer than that. Before any more moves could be made, Castiel and Dean grabbed each other's hands, to fight the devil together. A scream from Sam’s mouth ripped out around them, echoing through the empty woods, as he fell to the ground with a loud thump. Black and blue smoke dispersing from his lips as he lay prone. 

Still holding hands, the couple walked slowly towards the body, worried it might be a trap. They heard mumbling of a spell from in front of them, and looked up to find Crowley and Chuck also holding hands. 

“It is done,” Chuck spoke. 

“Huh?” Castiel and Dean eloquently answered. 

“You’ve fallen in love,” Kevin said with a smile on his face. “Wanting to go against the devil is one thing, but fighting hand in hand shows the love that’s grown between you two is even stronger than all of us could have hoped.” 

“Huh?” The couple breathed out again. 

“Just accept it,” Chuck said, “Sam is back.” The body in front of them let out a pained cough, but didn’t move. His clothes were the same that he’d worn all those years earlier, torn and ripped as he grew into the giant in front of them today. 

“Well,” Crowley dragged out the word. “Looks like Hell is going to need a new leader.” An evil laugh echoed as he snapped his fingers and disappeared. 

“Explain!” Dean said to the people left around him. 

Chuck had brought along Kevin and John with him this time. 

“Well, I think I should to you explain too,” John spoke, walking up from the woods like he’d been hiding there, waiting for the moment to reveal himself properly. 

“Dad?” Dean jumped back and let go of the angel’s hand. “Why are you here? Who’s in charge of the camp?” 

John picked up Sam’s unconscious body and laid him on one of the couches in the room as they all gathered in the living room, each explaining their side of the stories that had been running for millennia. Revealing everyone’s true self. 

Chuck explained how he wasn’t an angel nor was he a monster, but he’d been God all along. He’d explained how he hid himself from Dean, to watch him grow as the Croatoan virus spread, knowing if he gained Dean’s trust, it’d be easier for the prophecy to happen. How he’d known all along of Castiel and Crowley’s involvement in it, but had to wait until Dean had matured enough to not completely throw off the idea of being with an angel in a male's body, before he revealed himself. 

John explained how he’d also known of the prophecy for some time as well, but he’d hoped that Dean wouldn’t have to live it out. 

“Gabe and Balthazar found me after the virus spread worldwide, and told me that it was up to you to stop it, Dean, and that I would have to step back and let you grow so you could fulfill what destiny had in store for you.” 

“Is that why you never came on raids and let me be leader?” Dean asked, sitting forward in his spot on the couch. 

“Yes. They said you’d need to fully be a true leader for you to take up the name of Michael.” 

“But, I didn’t say yes.” Dean questioned. 

“You are Michael,” Castiel answered in a small voice. “You don’t have to say yes for you to be him, Michael is you.” 

“What?” 

“Let me explain this,” Kevin said standing up from his spot on the chair. “You weren’t born to be Michael’s vessel, unlike Sam who was born to be Lucifer’s vessel. You were born with Michael’s grace hidden inside of you. That’s why you never got sick, and Sam did. That’s why even when you were close to the Croats, they didn’t attack you. It’s also why you were the one to save everyone. Dean, Michael is just another name for you, Chuck purposely hid it from the world, Michael was always the angel’s middle name, Dean was always his first.” 

Dean sat speechless, taking everything in. He’d been born an angel. He’d been born to have great power and he never even realized it. He’d always grown up thinking he was a nobody. 

“Uhm,” Castiel said quietly while Dean was thinking everything over. “Where are my brothers now?” 

“Well, that answers Dean’s other question. Gabe and Balth are in charge of the camp now, they’re fixing it up so it’s less run down. They’re bringing animals back to the area we haven’t had in a while. We’ve been slowly doing this for the last week, hoping that when we got here everything would be put into its rightful place.” 

“I suspect they’re turning the camp into more of a brothel though,” Kevin laughed.


	2. EPILOGUE - A YEAR LATER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EPILOGUE - A YEAR LATER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is sex in this chapter ... so if that's not what you're here for just read until they get back to the castle :)

After spending some time at the camp, as the world slowly went back to the way it was, every one went their separate ways. Most of the angels returned to heaven and, surprisingly, Crowley wasn’t a bad devil. 

The grass started to grow again. Plants came back to life from their once burnt-out husks. Trees bloomed with leaves, and flowers began to peek their heads out in the warm sunlight.

The infected were round up into various hospitals run by previous campers, each getting the care they needed to return back to the living world. Those that were too far gone with the virus, instead of being shot and killed, were put into prisons where the angels that were left would work everyday to rehabilitate them. Kevin worked closely with the angels when he could, being one of the only people around that understood every line of any spell came in handy for some of the more challenging cases of rehabilitation.

Crowley helped heal where he could, but mostly stayed in Hell, keeping an eye on the cage that now held Lucifer captive. He completely rebuilt Hell from the ground up, and kept every demon on a tight leash until the world was stable enough for them to wreak havoc again.

Sam and John left a few months after the world started going back to normal. They traveled just like the old times, helping out where they could and when they could. When they weren’t lending hands to strangers, they were getting to know each other again. John and Sam had missed out on too much of their lives, they weren’t wasting anytime in this second chance to have the best father-son relationship they could. Sure, they still fought, every family did, but now there wasn’t a threat of Lucifer hanging over their heads when they fought they could resolve the issues now.

Dean and Castiel still grew closer every day as they watched the world be fixed around them, from nothing else but their love. Sure they had fights, any normal couple did, however most couple’s fights don’t cause hurricanes or tornadoes the way that Dean and Cas’ did. They tried not to fight often, but they were both so strong willed, it was hard to get past their stubbornness sometimes. They stayed at the camp until the last person left when they returned to the castle where everything began.

“I like it here more,” Castiel said as they entered the front door to the opaque brick building.

“I’d have imagined you were happy being away from here, after being stuck here for so long,” Dean commented, placing their luggage by the moat doors and closing it behind them.

“I don’t know. There’s just something so homey about it, and I love it here,” Castiel said before turning to Dean and whispering in his ear. “Plus we’re completely alone here.”

Before Dean could even begin to imagine what the angel meant, Castiel took off his shirt and shook out his shoulders producing the wings that Dean had grown to miss. He reached for them as a mischievous smile crossed the angel’s face.

“You have to catch me first,” he said with a wink, as he slowly backed up towards the steps that led up to his old room. No sooner than the last syllable came from his lips, did he turn and break out into a run up the stairs.

Each time Dean ran after him, he’d barely catch up to the angel before he would disappear into the air, with nothing left but a piece of his clothing. By the time Dean caught the boxers he wore before they hit the floor, a naughty laugh could be heard from Castiel’s old room.

“What are you doing?” Dean questioned stupidly. They’d never done anything more than kissing to this point. Not knowing where to even start, they’d had few discussions about it, but never found the time to be alone long enough to do anything more than clumsy quick hand jobs in the shower.

“It’s time,” Castiel said as he snapped his fingers and suddenly Dean was standing in front of him, as naked as he was. “Take me, Huggy Bear.”

Dean approached the angel slowly, licking his lips as he watched the angel wink at him seductively. He reached his boyfriend and leaned down to kiss him. The kiss was full of passion with hints of the longing for more that they’d both been feeling. Promptly, as if breathing the hunger they’d felt for each other took over, Dean pushed Castiel back as the kiss became heavier. Their breaths were little more than pants now as they explored each other’s naked bodies with their hands. 

Dean ran his hand down Castiel’s stomach, skipping over his member before grabbing his thighs and spreading them, to lay between. Castiel’s hands ran up and down Dean’s back as he moved his head for Dean to breathe. The hunter began to kiss his neck. A loud moan screamed through Castiel’s swollen lips, and Dean bit down on his neck, to suck a mark there.

The fire inside them rapidly grew from a spark into a raging fire, as Castiel reach under the pillow to grab lube and pushed it into Dean’s roaming hands.

“You really can make anything appear out of thin air, can’t you,” he laughed as he spread the viscous liquid onto his fingers.

“Yeah, but it looks like I can’t make your dick get in me faster by doing all of this,” Castiel bit out as Dean continued his tiny bites down his abs.

“In due time, Bird. Don’t you worry.”

Dean put his lubed up fingers on Castiel’s hole and massaged it as he listened to the impatient sounds Castiel was making. Slowly he pushed one finger in to the first knuckle, before pulling it back out and repeating this motion as he let the angel get used to the feeling.

Gently he added a second finger and continued his lazy movements. He relished the moans coming from the angel, as he pushed himself down onto Dean’s fingers to get them deeper, the lean muscles of his body all convulsing every time he breathed in, shaking in their want for just a little more.

As calmly as he could while the yearning, sizzling heat grew in him, Dean waited until he had three fingers inside Castiel before pulling them out and slicking his own member up. He breached the angel with a shaky sigh of breath, and lay his head on Castiel’s shoulder until he felt like he could move without exploding.

As he waited for both of them to get used to the contact, he began to run his hands through Castiel’s feathers, his mouth on the angel’s neck, again tasting the sweat that formed there as his fingers felt the clouds that he missed so much. He massaged and ran his hands through the black silk in front of him, as electricity flew through his body. Their worlds turned and he blinked as he was now staring at the ceiling.

“You were taking too long,” Castiel complained. He placed his hands over Dean’s ribs and moved his hips experimentally.

It took a bit, but soon Castiel’s movements were full of confidence as he writhed on top of Dean. They took turns flipping one another till they found the right angle for the angel to scream loud enough that the lights in the room all exploded with his pleasure. Castiel’s face in the pillow under him as he bit the cotton to stop from moaning too loudly again, as Dean thrust into him from behind with his hands in feathers. 

Not long after, Castiel felt the pleasure growing in his stomach, sinking lower and lower until he moved his hand from where it had a death grip on the pillow to grasp himself, and moved with a loose hand around himself, in time to Dean’s thrusts.

“You gonna come for me, Bird?” Dean questioned, thrusting harder, impaling the angel with deep movements.

A few thrusts later, the world around both of them went white as they both finished, calling each other's name before falling together onto the bed.

Opening his eyes, Dean saw that the room was now filled with candle light, and the sun was long gone below the horizon. He lazily noticed Cas had moved them and he lay on his back now, running his hands through feathers that weren’t there before. It took Dean a moment to realize that the feeling of pleasure wasn’t from what they’d just done, but the spark of Castiel running his hands through wings that were now coming from his own back. He jumped from where he was comfortably cuddled into the angel’s side and sat up to look at his own back.

“The world is finally set right.” Castiel said. “Michael is free.”

**Author's Note:**

> Side note ;; I did have a castle that I based my thoughts on ... but I can't find the link to the article anymore so I can't share the photo ... but there really are Castles in Nova Scocia .. You guys should just go check them all out on the google cause there's a lot of them :)


End file.
